At 07.45 hours on 16 Aug 1942 the Suecia, a straggler from convoy SC-95, was sighted by U-596 without neutrality markings close to the route Swedish vessels had to follow through the blockade area around the British Isles and was ordered to stop. The Germans examined the papers and after discovering that she was en route in British service, ordered the crew and 12 passengers to abandon ship. At 13.08 hours, the U-boat then sank the vessel with a torpedo and later erroneously reported her victim as the Suevia. The survivors abandoned ship in four lifeboats, but one was lost on launch and the other boats were soon separated in bad weather with high seas. During the storm, one survivor fell overboard from a lifeboat and drowned, while another boat with eight occupants was never seen again.